A picture is worth a thousand words’ might be among the common adages you may have heard. West End Colony-based photographer Avantika Meattle’s (42) exhibition, which is currently on display at Open Palm Court, India Habitat Centre, evokes a response that asserts this idea.
“I love capturing moments and later going back to those memories,” shares Meattle, who sees photographs as expressions of love, where lights and shadows combine to bring things alive. Her solo show titled ‘Ukraine: Untold Glimpses’—it was unveiled on Tuesday—focuses on images captured during Meattle’s short trip to Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine, between December 27 and January 2. The show was inaugurated by Dr Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday evening and is an attempt to capture the essence of the vibrant country.
Along with landscapes and cityscapes, this three-day exhibition also features images of the architectural history of Ukraine, a country that has been influenced by Nordic, European, Russian, and Ottoman cultures. An avid traveller, Meattle shares that her decision to visit the country was actually quite random. “We just chanced upon Ukraine. While everyone is talking about the country now, not many people have been there,” shares Meattle. Her photographs, usually taken during morning walks in and around the city, are truly untold glimpses of Ukraine, and a way to immortalise a country, which might never be the same again.
Travel, click, cherish
The curation of photographs—they are printed on different mediums such as archival paper, metal, lenticular prints, among others—are arranged on the gallery walls with written descriptions on Meattle’s view of the picture. Speaking about her experimentation with multiple mediums, she mentions, “People in India barely buy photographs. So I wanted to give my viewers a variety of choices that might intrigue them more.”
The works in this show trace architecture, human interaction, and glimpses of travel from one city to another. “Honestly, I fell in love with the culture, the food, and the people. It is a very rich country. For me, Ukraine was stunning,” says Meattle. These might be the last comprehensive, surviving archives of a thriving country before a tragedy.
Meattle also shares how her most cherished memory was spending New Year at Lviv. “We were at the market square and the atmosphere was joyous; people were laughing, bells were ringing.” She laments that this visual will not be the same anymore, mentioning the news about Russian rockets that struck Lviv on Sunday. “Now, when I see these pictures, I am saddened by the fact that everything there is destroyed.”
She concludes, “It feels strange that the places that are being attacked are where I had been a few weeks ago. Now if you go there, it will not be the same. These cities were romantic for me and now I feel that anything can happen at any moment.” Proceeds from the sale of these photographs will also be contributed to humanitarian relief work in Ukraine.
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